Headphone Pillow

ABSTRACT

An ergonomic pillow for greatly increasing comfort and ability to lie on a pillow while using an ear covering or inserted audio device. It has a cutout section to accommodate one half of a pair of conventional headphones with the over-the-head band. It has an optional insert that matingly conforms to and completely fills the cutout section to convert the pillow to a standard configuration. Within the insert are a pair of removable nesting inserts sized for earphones or earbuds. The pillow will make resting ear-down possible with an audio listening device. The pillow offers increased comfort and neck support for one wearing audio listening devices and the additional benefit of external sound reduction.

COPYRIGHT STATEMENT

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material that is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates, in general, to pillows, and more particularly to pillows directed at audiophiles who like to enjoy music while they sleep or rest.

BACKGROUND

With the growth of personal computing devices, cell phones and portable music players, the audio listening device industry has burgeoned. Streaming music services abound. While decades ago there were but wired headphones with over the head bands connecting the separate ear cups, now there exist wireless and wired units, over the head, and around the neck units, around the ear earphones and ear buds to mention a few of the designs. Today's populace is audibly connected to a much higher degree to their world and their music, with many of them continuing to listen while they rest or sleep.

The problem with the headphones/earphones and with a lesser degree to the earbuds, is that they are uncomfortable or impossible to use when sleeping or resting unless it is done without a pillow and then, only with the back of the head contacting the resting surface.

An additional problem that these audiophiles encounter, is that when they are listening to their music, despite their sound secreting devices, they cannot totally isolate the ambient noise. This is especially problematic when in a loud environment such as an airplane. Although there are a plethora of noise cancelling headphones/earphones/earbuds available on the market, these tend to be expensive and often incorporate an overly large profile. Even then, depending on the quality of the device, some noise still gets through.

Henceforth, a pillow that would allow the user to rest or sleep and continue listening to their music or that could be used in a noisy environment as an additional, inexpensive sound barrier would fulfill a long felt need in the industry. This new invention utilizes and combines known and new technologies in a unique and novel configuration to overcome the aforementioned problems and accomplish this.

BRIEF SUMMARY

In accordance with various embodiments, an adjustable headphone/earphone/earbud pillow is provided.

It is primary objective of the present invention to provide an ergonomic pillow for providing the ability to and for greatly increasing for the comfort of lying ear-down on a pillow while using ear-covering or ear-inserted audio device.

It is another objective of the present invention to provide a pillow that will remove much of the ambient sound while allowing the user to wear their choice of audio listening devices.

It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a pillow that can be adjusted to accommodate any type or style of audio listening headwear.

It is a another aspect, the present invention will provide a pillow that will allow ease of motion and ergonomic comfort for users wearing large ear-covering headphones while resting with their ear toward the pillow.

Various modifications and additions can be made to the embodiments discussed without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, while the embodiments described above refer to particular features, the scope of this invention also includes embodiments having different combination of features and embodiments that do not include all of the above described features.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A further understanding of the nature and advantages of particular embodiments may be realized by reference to the remaining portions of the specification and the drawings, in which like reference numerals are used to refer to similar components.

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of first embodiment headphone pillow with an over the head headphone;

FIG. 2 is a rotated front perspective view of first embodiment headphone pillow with an over the head headphone;

FIG. 3 is a front perspective view of first embodiment headphone pillow;

FIG. 4 is a top view of first embodiment headphone pillow;

FIG. 5 is a first side view of first embodiment headphone pillow;

FIG. 6 is a bottom view of first embodiment headphone pillow;

FIG. 7 is a second side view of first embodiment headphone pillow;

FIG. 8 is a front view of first embodiment headphone pillow;

FIG. 9 is a back view of first embodiment headphone pillow;

FIG. 10 is top view of first embodiment pillow insert;

FIG. 11 is a side view of first embodiment pillow insert;

FIG. 12 is a cross sectional side view of first embodiment pillow insert with the earphone insert and earbud plug;

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of the earphone insert with the earbud plug;

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of the earbud plug;

FIG. 15 is a top/bottom view of second embodiment headphone pillow;

FIG. 16 is a is a side perspective view of second embodiment pillow insert;

FIG. 17 is a cross sectional view of second embodiment pillow insert with the earphone insert and the earbud plug;

FIG. 18 is a cross sectional view of third embodiment pillow insert with the earphone insert and the earbud plug;

FIG. 19 is a top view of third embodiment headphone pillow;

FIG. 20 is a bottom view of third embodiment headphone pillow;

FIG. 21 is a side cross sectional view of third embodiment headphone pillow.

FIG. 22 is a side perspective view of fourth embodiment headphone pillow;

FIG. 23 is a top view of fourth embodiment headphone pillow;

FIG. 24 is a bottom view of fourth embodiment headphone pillow; and

FIG. 25 is a side cross sectional view of fourth embodiment pillow insert.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF CERTAIN EMBODIMENTS

While various aspects and features of certain embodiments have been summarized above, the following detailed description illustrates a few exemplary embodiments in further detail to enable one skilled in the art to practice such embodiments. The described examples are provided for illustrative purposes and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.

In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the described embodiments. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art, however, that other embodiments of the present invention may be used without some of these specific details. Several embodiments are described herein, and while various features are ascribed to different embodiments, it should be appreciated that the features described with respect to one embodiment may be incorporated with other embodiments as well. By the same token, however, no single feature or features of any described embodiment should be considered essential to every embodiment of the invention, as other embodiments of the invention may omit such features.

In this description, the directional prepositions of up, upwardly, down, downwardly, front, back, top, upper, bottom, lower, left, right and other such terms refer to the device as it is oriented and appears in the drawings and are used for convenience only; they are not intended to be limiting or to imply that the device has to be used or positioned in any particular orientation.

Unless otherwise indicated, all numbers herein used to express quantities, dimensions, and so forth, should be understood as being modified in all instances by the term “about.” In this application, the use of the singular includes the plural unless specifically stated otherwise, and use of the terms “and” and “or” means “and/or” unless otherwise indicated. Moreover, the use of the term “including,” as well as other forms, such as “includes” and “included,” should be considered non-exclusive. Also, terms such as “element” or “component” encompass both elements and components comprising one unit and elements and components that comprise more than one unit, unless specifically stated otherwise.

As used herein the term “headphone” refers to a style of audio listening headwear devices for wearing about the human head that incorporate a pair of speaker earcups (operationally wired or wireless) connected generally by an over-the-head band.

As used herein the term “earphones” refers to a style of audio listening headwear devices that incorporate a pair of miniaturized speakers (operationally wired or wireless), partially or fully insertable in the ear canal but that are held in place by a mechanical clip that attaches on or around the ear or the human head.

As used herein the term “earbuds” refers to a style of audio listening headwear devices that incorporate a pair of miniaturized speakers, (operationally wired or wireless) partially or fully insertable in the ear canal.

The present invention relates to a novel design for a pillow that has a series of adjustable voids sized to accommodate one half of any style of audio listening device when inserted perpendicular to the linear axis of the pillow.

Looking at FIGS. 3-9 the structural design of the first embodiment headphone pillow can best be seen. The first embodiment headphone pillow 2 is a generally rectangular molded cuboid volume (a convex polyhedron bounded by six quadrilateral faces) of a polymer foam with rounded contoured corners. In the preferred embodiment it is made of a “memory” style or “viscoelastic” foam which elastically contours temporarily to the body placed on it. It is generally made of a polyurethane with additional chemicals to increase its viscosity and density. A low-resilience polyurethane foam or a higher density memory foam are both suitable, with the higher density foam softening in reaction to body heat, allowing it to mold quicker to a warm body. Foam is chosen as the material of construction as it will not settle or inelastically deform about the perimeter of the central void 6 so as to decrease the thickness of the pillow 2. If this were to occur the headphone earcup would contact the surface below the pillow and both transmit uncomfortable pressure on the wearer's head and the compressive forces may possibly damage the headphones or any wired connection.

The first embodiment pillow 2 has a top, generally planar face 4 with a central void 6 passing completely through the volume (thickness) of the pillow 2 so as to leave a bottom orifice 8 centrally located on the generally planar bottom face 10 of the pillow 2. Although depicted as an oval void (having a minor and major width) it is known that other geometrical shaped voids may be employed, although the oval void is preferred as the geometrical configuration of most headphones is round or oval.

Looking at the first embodiment pillow 2 from the top (FIGS. 1-3) it can be seen that extending normally from the central void 6 to the lower perimeter 14 of the lower side 24 of pillow 2 is a linear trough 12 commonly referred to as a dado. This trough has a component of depth and width, with the depth being less than the thickness of the pillow and the width preferably being less than the minor width of the central void 6. The linear axis of the trough runs along the width of the pillow. This is best seen looking at FIG. 8. Thus there is a web section 16 that prevents the pillow 2 from splaying out and separating away from the longitudinal axis of the void (the length of the pillow) and trough cutout 18 when a load is placed upon the top face of the pillow. It is to be noted that preferably, the side wall of the cutout 18 are generally perpendicular to the top planar face 4 of the pillow and parallel about its all sections of its entire configuration.

The first side of the pillow 20 (FIG. 5) and the second side of the pillow 22 (FIG. 7) are substantially similar, being mirror images of each other taken about the axial midline of the pillow which runs through the longitudinal center of the cutout 18. The upper side 26 of the pillow is a contiguous section of foam, uninterrupted by any voids or troughs.

Looking at FIGS. 1 and 2 of the first embodiment headphone pillow 2, the use is obvious. One of a headphone's speaker earcups 28 is inserted into the central void 6 such that the plane of the body of the headphone resides perpendicular to the top face 4 of the pillow. Part of the headphone's over-the-head band 30 resides in the linear trough 12. The depth that the earphone cup 28 sits in the central void 6 is such that the face 32 of the earcup's ear pads resides slightly below the top face 4 of the pillow 2. The depth of the foam of the pillow 2 (the depth of the void 6) is chosen based on the compressibility of the specific foam used such that the five kilogram weight of an average human head will not compress the pillow to a depth that is less than the thickness of most commercial headphone earcups. (approximately five to ten centimeters.) Different thicknesses of earphone pillows will be available for use with specific headphones.

Although intended for use with headphones, the first embodiment headphone pillow 2 may be used with earphones, earbuds or no audio listening headwear, as it has an optional first embodiment pillow insert 34 with an earphone insert 36 and an earbud plug 38 as seen in FIGS. 10-12. The first embodiment pillow insert 34 is a foam insert contoured to frictionally fit within the central void 6 and trough 12 (cutout 18) filling this spaced such that when inserted into the first embodiment pillow 2, the assembly will resemble a standard pillow with identical top and bottom faces except for the differing shape of the perimeter edges of the cutout 18. This allows the pillow to be used when the user does not have on their headphones.

The earphone insert 36 frictionally fits within a matingly sized recess centrally located within the portion of the pillow insert 34 that fills the central void 6. The insert 36 is sized slightly larger than an average 6.3 centimeter long, 2 centimeter wide and 1.9 centimeter thick human ear so as to allow for a ear with an attached earphone to comfortably reside without placing any pressure on this device which would be uncomfortably transmitted to the wearer's ear.

Similarly, the earbud plug 38 (FIG. 14) is a foam circular disk that frictionally fits within a matingly sized recess 40 (FIG. 13) centrally located within the earphone insert 36. It is sized of a diameter and depth to accept any portion of an earbud that may extend from the user's ear. The nesting arrangement of the earbud plug 38 the earphone insert 36 and the pillow insert 34 within the cutout 18 allows for four different first embodiment pillow configurations for those wearing, headphones, earphones, earbuds of nothing at all.

The second embodiment headphone pillow 42 (FIG. 15) is substantially similar on both its top and bottom faces. It has central oval void 44 that passes between the top and bottom faces, generally with its side walls perpendicular to the planes of the top and bottom faces. It is designed of the same material as the preferred (first) embodiment and retains the same considerations for the thickness (depth) of the pillow and the sizing of the central oval void 44. It also has an alternate embodiment pillow insert 46, alternate earphone insert 48 and alternate earbud plug 50 (FIGS. 16 and 17) that function in their nested environment in the same fashion as their first embodiment counterparts. The second embodiment headphone pillow 42 differs from the first embodiment headphone pillow 2 in that it does not have a trough. This second embodiment is designed for use with headphones that do not utilize the over-the-head band to connect and support the two earcups, but rather uses an around-the-neck clip or behind-the-head clip.

A third embodiment headphone pillow 60 (FIGS. 18-20) follows a similar design to that of the second alternate embodiment headphone pillow 42 (without any trough) but has a stepped central oval void 62 with the correspondingly stepped third pillow insert 64 but retaining the identical same, nesting alternate earphone insert 48 and alternate earbud plug 50 shown in FIGS. 16 and 17. This leaves a smaller bottom opening 66 on the bottom face of the pillow than the upper opening 68 on the top face. This stepped third pillow insert 64 offers additional resistance to prevent the third pillow insert 64 from being pushed out of the stepped central void 62.

A fourth embodiment headphone pillow 70 is shown in FIGS. 22-25. Here it can be seen that this fourth embodiment 70 closely resembles the first embodiment 2 except that the central void 6 of the first embodiment has been replaced with a stopped bore 72 that does not extend through the pillow 70 such that there is an uninterrupted planar bottom face 74. Rather, the linear troughs 12 of both the first embodiment and the fourth embodiments are identical, however the depth of the stopped bore 72 and the linear trough 12 are identical in the fourth embodiment. This is also reflected in the optional fourth embodiment pillow insert 76. While it retains the identical earphone insert 36 and an earbud plug 38 as seen in FIGS. 10-12, the fourth embodiment pillow insert 76 has a upper face 78 and bottom face 80 that are each planar and parallel to each other. The fourth embodiment pillow insert 76 (like all pillow elements) is preferably a foam insert contoured to frictionally fit within its mating coplanar stopped bore 72 and trough 12. Again here, the assembly will resemble a standard pillow with identical top and bottom faces except for the differing shape of the perimeter edges of the cutout 18 on the top face 73 allowing the pillow to be used when the user does not have on their headphones.

It is to be noted that the pillow inserts are preferably designed for full frictional engagement with the surfaces of the cutout or the oval voids (stepped or otherwise), that is to say that all of the inner surfaces of the cutout/voids are in contact with the inserts. Although not necessary the earphone inserts and earbud plugs are also in complete frictional engagement with their nesting voids/recesses.

While certain features and aspects have been described with respect to exemplary embodiments, one skilled in the art will recognize that numerous modifications are possible. Similarly, while certain functionality is ascribed to certain system components, unless the context dictates otherwise, this functionality can be distributed among various other system components in accordance with the several embodiments.

System components described according to a particular structural architecture and/or with respect to one system may be organized in alternative structural architectures and/or incorporated within other described systems. Hence, while various embodiments are described with—or without—certain features for ease of description and to illustrate exemplary aspects of those embodiments, the various components and/or features described herein with respect to a particular embodiment can be substituted, added, and/or subtracted from among other described embodiments, unless the context dictates otherwise. Consequently, although several exemplary embodiments are described above, it will be appreciated that the invention is intended to cover all modifications and equivalents within the scope of the following claims. 

1. An earphone pillow comprising: a generally cuboid compressible foam body having rounded corners, a top planar face, a bottom face, a thickness, a lower side, and upper side, a width and a length, said length lying along the linear axis of said pillow; an oval orifice having a major width and a minor width, said oval orifice extending through the entire thickness of said pillow, perpendicular to said top and said bottom pillow faces, said orifice; a linear trough extending from said orifice to said lower side of said pillow, said trough having two parallel side walls that reside along its entirety and reside generally perpendicular to said top planar face, wherein said trough has a depth that is less than said thickness of said pillow, and a width that is less than said minor width of said oval orifice; a web section below said linear trough preventing said pillow from separating away from said linear axis of said pillow a pillow insert conformed for full frictional engagement about all surfaces of said oval orifice and said linear trough; wherein said pillow and said pillow inserts are made of an viscoelastic compressible foam.
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 6. The earphone pillow of claim 1 further comprising: a circular void formed in said pillow insert; and an earphone insert, said earphone insert correspondingly sized for mating frictional engagement with all surfaces of said void.
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 9. The earphone pillow of claim 6 further comprising: an opening formed in said earphone insert; an earbud plug, said earbud plug correspondingly sized for mating frictional engagement with all surfaces of said opening.
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